Have you found yourself wondering what Lucee is and how it could possibly be different from Adobe ColdFusion? Lucee is considered to be the leading open-sourced CFML application server/engine. Lucee has been said to be able to provide a lot of functionality that deals with all kinds of web-related actions. You can manipulate images, PDF files, XML, string, numbers, dates, and a whole lot more. If you name it, Lucee can do it for you. Here is how Lucee is so much different from Adobe ColdFusion.
What is Adobe ColdFusion?
ColdFusion was created in 1995 by J. J. Allaire as a commercial rapid web-application development platform. Some know it as CFML, as was originally designed to make it easier connecting simple HTML pages to databases. By 1996 it had turned into a full platform that included an IDE, along with a full scripting language. A distinguishing feature of ColdFusion is the associated scripting language called ColdFusion Markup Language, which compares the scripting components of ASP, JSP, and PHP in purpose and features, but the tag syntax more closely resembles HTML, while the script syntax resembles JavaScript. ColdFusion was later purchased by Macromedia in 2001 in a $360 million merger and then sold again in 2005 when Adobe acquired Macromedia.
Lucee Project
Lucee is an open-source software that uses scripting language for the Java Virtual Machine that allows for the rapid development of web apps. Then they compile into Java byte code. Lucee can be compatible with current CFML and configurable for legacy CFML. Lucee was created in 2015 by using technology from an older CFML open-source platform, Railo. Before Lucee was developed, Railo Switzerland had been purchased by The Railo Corporation. After this purchase, the creators of Railo, from Railo Switzerland claimed that they would no longer work with Railo and that they would be putting all their efforts into Lucee. The Lucee Association, which is a non-profit Swiss organization, was born. The Railo Corporation ended up closing its doors in 2016, but Lucee still seems to remain the top Open Source CFML Platform that is on the market today. Lucee has become the choice for programmers today, and the platform is definitely on the rise.
Price Comparison
When comparing software platforms, the first thing to look at would be the price. Adobe comes with a choice of packages, CF Standard or CF Enterprise. Most applications will run on the less expensive CF standard, but Adobe ColdFusion compared to other web app development platforms, it could be expensive. ColdFusion starts at $2,499, whereas CF Enterprise starts at $9,499. Lucee, on the other hand, is completely free to use. You can choose to sponsor Lucee on a corporate or private level, yet sponsorship is not required. The fact that it is free is why new and veteran developers are starting to move towards Lucee and away from Adobe.
Installation, Requirements, and User Support
When installing Adobe CF, there is so much to consider, such as the server connection using. You also have to take special considerations to take for both Windows and Unix platforms. Lucee is very simple with a process that is automatically performing the server connections for you, and this allows the installer to be run as a stand-alone application and is also compatible with both Windows and Linux platforms. With support, Adobe has a really dedicated support team that is accessible through phone or through online tickets. Adobe not only provides direct support, but there are also CF communities are also readily available to help assist struggling developers in troubleshooting. There are also many testing tools that are built into CF that can be used to assist users. With Lucee, there is a great support group, although Lucee is more community-based.
Lucee and Adobe ColdFusion
Both platforms are still being used throughout the world to develop apps, but Lucee is becoming more widely used. Lucee is the cheaper, easier software platform to use. Although there is not the same support you would gain from having Adobe, the platform is much easier to use, and you are not stuck with something that is extremely expensive.
